New McCaskey coach draws large turnout for training

Coach David Given has committed himself to turning J.P. McCaskey High School’s football program around. And, as preseason training begins this week, it seems that Given is doing just that, according to Athletic Director Jon Mitchell. While the High School’s football program had around 45 students enrolled at the end of last season, the turnout for training has included as many 80 students.

Turnout has been so significant that Given is running out of numbers to assign each player: “I tell [the students], ‘if we run out of uniforms, we’ll buy more,’” Given said, “It’s a good problem.”

According to Given, there has been little promotion on his part for students to sign up. He attributes the impressive numbers to simple word of mouth among students in the district. In fact, as students connected with the program and passed word onto their friends, the program has gained a couple of new recruits each day, Mitchell said.

Although Given has been very impressed by the talent and work ethic of McCaskey students, he admitted that many remain “in the learning phase.” Training sessions have focused on establishing standard offensive and defensive techniques: “It’s easier to be aggressive when you are confident in what you’re doing,” Given said, “So the more they learn it, the less they have those question marks in their mind as to ‘am I really doing the right thing in this play?’”

Given dons the role of head football coach at McCaskey after the team’s winless 2008 season—their worst since the mid 1970s. Before taking the job last May, Given coached in Tuscan, Arizona; and before that, he worked with a largely urban group of students as a coach and recruiter for the University of Chicago. According to Mitchell, the district was especially attracted to Given for his ability to effectively coordinate, unite, and inspire an athletic community.

As if rebooting McCaskey football was not challenge enough, Given ran into serious personal obstacles earlier this summer when his wife experienced a life-threatening brain aneurysm just before their move to Pennsylvania. In the first weeks of hospitalization, Given’s wife was placed on full life support, and “it looked like she wasn’t going to make it,” Given said. But now, several months later, Given’s wife has settled into life in Lancaster and is on the road to full recovery.

Only a few days into training, Given says that the students are already “a lot further along” than he would have expected. Mitchell expressed high hopes for Given’s potential, already having been impressed with the coach’s mastery of the game: “He’s educating me on football,” Mitchell said.